This invention relates to spiral vendors, and more particularly to such vendors for vending so-called snack products including bags of potato chips, pretzels, and the like.
The invention is especially concerned with a spiral vendor of the rear-to-front type, such as shown in U.S. Pats. Nos. 3,178,055, 3,269,595, 3,344,953, 3,591,045, 3,653,540 and 3,773,217, comprising a cabinet having a front door, shelves in the cabinet having their forward ends spaced rearward from the door to provide a drop space, helices on the shelves extending in rear-to-front direction with respect to the cabinet and adapted to receive items to be vended between their convolutions, the door having a window for viewing the forwardmost items, and means for rotating each helix to advance the items in the convolutions of the helix toward the forward end of the respective shelf and discharge the forwardmost item off the forward end of the shelf to drop down in said drop space.
Rear-to-front spiral vendors such as above described have come into use for vending candy, gum and mints and so-called snack products, including bags of potato chips, pretzels and the like. A problem has been encountered in dispensing such bags in that in some instances the bags, instead of dropping, tip over and become bridged against the window of the vendor. This problem can be solved by increasing the distance between the window and the forward ends of the shelves to a dimension greater than the height of the bags and the problem has been so serious that this has been done, but it unduly increases the depth of the cabinet or, if the depth of the cabinet is not increased, reduces the capacity of the vendor.